India-Japan Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH)-Fast Track Patent Prosecution Programme

Cabinet’s Approval to Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) Programme across India & Japan

Indian Patent office has paved a way for international patent applications by approving their 1st Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) program with the Japan patent office. The amendment of patent rules 2003 as per the notification of September 2019, has encouraged innovation by allowing expedited examination of patent filings. The new rules have opened the doors for Indian patent office to enter into business and strategic relations with other patent offices of the world. The amendments to the patent rules allow the examiners to share and reuse the search and the examination reports performed by the other patent offices.

Why the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) Programme between India & Japan

The patent applications from Japanese inventors have doubled in the past few years as per the annual reports published by the Controller General of Patents, Design and Trademarks of India (CGPDTM). Japan has consistently filed a significant number of patent applications in the country of India between 2016-2018 that is 6936 applications. Therefore it is very clear to form the first alliance of the patent prosecution highway (PPH) Program along with the patent office, Japan. The visionary governments of the two nations agreed to initiate the PPH program at the Japan and India summit meeting in the year 2018 which have been finally formalized now in the year 2019 as the bilateral PPH program on a pilot basis for 3 years where Indian patent office may accept patent applications in the technical fields of namely, Electronics, Electrical, Information Technology, Computer Science, Physics, Civil, Mechanical, Metallurgy, Automobiles and Textiles while Japan patent office may accept applications for any of the fields of technology.

Significants of Indo – Japan Patent Prosecution Highway Programme

After the India-Japan alliance in the PPH program, Japan’s count of setting up PPH programs with other patent offices has turned 43. The outcome of this pilot program as well as the recent amendment in the patent rules, Japanese investors and inventors can expect an expedited examination for their patent applications in the Indian patent office where the claims are already checked for their patentability in Japan. The order to grant the patent application will remain in the authorities of the territorial patent offices of both the countries. Although the patent applicants can now obtain patents with a much more rapid procedure. Several such bilateral and multilateral PPH agreements have been contracted by other patent offices worldwide by Japan, U.S.A, China, Canada, U.K. and many more. According to the annual report published by CGPDTM for the year 2017-18, a majority of patent applications through PCT national phase application was filed by the U.S.A, Germany, the Republic of China, Netherlands, Korea, the U.K. followed with Sweden, France, Switzerland and a few more. Bilateral and multilateral PPH agreements with the top patent filing countries will encourage more innovation as well as improved FDI. The bilateral agreement has commenced between India and Japan on a pilot basis for three years whose scope may be extended in future accordingly. The objective is this agreement is to reduce the time taken by the regional office to dispose of patent applications as well as reduce the number of pending applications, providing the quality search of patent applications and provide an opportunity to Indian inventors as well as Startups, MSMEs to obtain quicker examination for their patent applications in Japan. This Bilateral PPH agreement is the most significant changes in the specialism of IP up till now and such agreements will make India a popular patent filing hub. PPH alliances will further act as an incentive for many technology companies to invest more in the country and set up R&D as well as manufacturing centres. India is looking forward to becoming an innovation-based economy in the coming times. In conclusion, this is a much-needed move from the Indian patent office perspective considering the backlog at Indian patent office and a higher number of patents are filed by foreign applicants. This will give a push to accelerate the patent examination process which will provide confidence to multinational companies to do investment as well as business in India.